


Practice, Practice, Practice

by twinsarein



Category: Smallville
Genre: First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Underage Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-02
Updated: 2010-08-02
Packaged: 2017-10-10 22:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinsarein/pseuds/twinsarein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark is being bad-mouthed at school, and Lex wants to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practice, Practice, Practice

Letting himself into Lex’s study quietly, so as not to disturb his friend working at his desk, Clark walked over to the couch and pulled out some homework.  Not even pausing his conversation on the phone, Lex waved an acknowledgement of Clark’s arrival.

 

Heaving a heavy sigh, Clark waved back, then continued working on his math.  It was way too easy for him, and he heaved another sigh as he finished and reached into his bag to find something else.  Sighing again, he pulled out his assigned reading, in the hopes that it would hold his attention for a while.

 

It worked for a whole minute, until it was time to turn the page.  Then, he sighed again.  Looking up at a beep, signaling a phone being turned off, Clark saw Lex stand and walk around the desk toward him.  “If I had one handy, I’d offer you a paper bag so you don’t hyperventilate.”

 

Blinking at the odd opening, Clark just stared at his friend.  “Huh?”

 

Shrugging, Lex lowered himself to the couch, and turned to look at Clark.  “All your sighing.  I was afraid you were going to be short of oxygen and pass out.  What’s wrong, Clark?  What can I do to help?”

 

Shaking his head, Clark clasped his hands in front of him and looked down at them.  “Nothing, Lex.  There’s nothing you or anyone else can do to help me.  “Don’t worry about it.”

 

Shifting on the couch, Lex laid an arm on the back of the couch, almost, but not quite, touching Clark’s shoulder.  “Tell me.  If there’s something I can do, I will.  If not, then just talking about it might help you in some way.”

 

Another sigh almost slipped free, and Clark bit his lip to cut it short.  “It’s embarrassing.”

 

Lex’s expression is self-depreciating.  “Believe me when I say I’ve had some embarrassing things happen to me.  I won’t laugh.”

 

Face a little red, Clark took a deep breath.  “TherewasapartyandIhadtokissagirlandshe

toldeveryoneatschoolthatI’mnogoodatit.”

 

Lex blinked at the torrent of words.  “Let me test my understanding.  You went to a party this past weekend.  While there, you kissed a girl.  Now, she’s telling everyone at your school that you don’t know how to kiss.”

 

Letting his head thump onto the back of the couch, Clark nodded after every statement.  “Yeah.  Since yesterday, groups of girls giggle as they pass me in the hall.  The jocks have been slapping the back of my head and telling me I’m a loser for messing it up with a hot girl like her.  Walking to a table in the lunch room, the path in front of me gets quiet, and then once I pass, whispers and giggles start up.  It’s been a miserable two days.”

 

Standing up abruptly, Lex walked over to his desk and opened his laptop.  “What’s her name?”

 

Narrowing his eyes, Clark looked back at Lex suspiciously.  “Why?”

 

Tapping at his keyboard, Lex didn’t even look up.  “I can check my employee records.  If one of her parents works for the plant, I can get them transferred.”

 

Clark scrambled to his feet, and held a hand out, as if to stop Lex physically, but he stopped himself before he made contact.  “No!  No, Lex.  It wouldn’t be right to uproot her whole family just because she’s being mean and other’s are teasing and bullying me because of it.”

 

Flopping back on the couch, Clark flung an arm over his eyes.  “There’s nothing you can do to stop them.  I just wish I knew what I’d done wrong.”

 

Walking back to the couch, Lex again took a seat.  “You’ve kissed other girls.  Did they complain?”

 

Not moving from his position, Clark shook his head in the negative.  “But, I’ve only kissed a couple of girls, Lex, and they were both my age.  The girl this weekend, she was a couple of years older.”

 

Lex twisted on the couch to face Clark more fully.  “I know it probably doesn’t help, but kissing is just like everything else - you get better with practice.”

 

Snorting indelicately, Clark finally lowered his hands and looked at Lex forlornly.  “Who’s going to want to practice with me now?  I’ll be known as the lousy kisser for the rest of high school.  No one will come near me until college, at least.”

 

Reaching out a hand, Lex laid it on Clark’s shoulder.  “Why don’t you tell me about the kiss.  Maybe I can figure out why she’s bad-mouthing you.”

 

Shoulder tingling at the unexpected contact, color flooded his cheeks, and Clark looked down and shrugged before raising his gaze again.  “It was a kissing game, and a boy and girl had to go into a dark room for a certain period of time to kiss.  They weren’t allowed out until the time was up.  When we were paired up for our turn, everyone laughed and made jokes about our height difference.  When we got in the room, we did have trouble, so she told me to just pick her up.”

 

At a soft sound from Lex, Clark stopped and looked over.  Lex’s color looked a little high, but when Lex just waved at him to continue, he did.  “My two hands practically reached all the way around her waist, and I just lifted her like a fence post and brought her close.  I pressed my mouth to her’s for a few seconds, and then pulled away to make sure she was okay with what I was doing.”

 

When Clark paused again, Lex nodded his understanding.  “Was she?”

 

Dropping his eyes a little, Clark shrugged again.  “She seemed to be.  She grabbed my head and pressed her lips back against mine.  Then, she licked at my lips.  I was so surprised I almost dropped her.  I did put her down, and a few seconds later the door opened.  Neither of us said anything, and my curfew was close, so I left and went home.”

 

“Then, when you got to school on Monday, everyone was already starting to laugh at you.”

 

It was more of a statement than a question, but, slumping into the couch more, Clark nodded.  “Yeah.  So...what did I do wrong?”

 

It was Lex’s turn to sigh, and he ran a hand over the bald dome of his head before he replied.  “It’s not so much that you did anything wrong, Clark.  It’s that you didn’t do what she wanted.”

 

At Clark’s helpless shrug, Lex continued.  “When she licked your lips, she wanted you to open your mouth; she wanted the kiss to deepen.  When you pulled back and put her down--”

 

“She thought I was rejecting her!  I hurt her feelings, and that’s why she said something.  I should apologize or something.”

 

Lex shook his head fondly.  “Only you, Clark, could see what she’s done in that light.  You didn’t know what she wanted.  She had no right to make fun of you like that.  That doesn’t deserve an apology.  An apology wouldn’t change anything, anyway.  If you want to stop all the teasing and bullying, you need to kiss a few girls in very public places, and knock their socks off when you do it.”

 

Turning to look at Lex, Clark bit his bottom lip.  “And, we’re back to me needing practice with nowhere to get it.  No one at school is going to want to kiss me, and most of the people I know outside of school are my parents’ age or older.”  

 

Clark gave an exaggerated shudder at the thought, before he continued.  “I know there are places in Metropolis I could go, but I don’t think I want to kiss a stranger, and they might want more.  I don’t know any girls that go to Central Kansas University, but I do know a couple of guys.  Not well, but they might be willing to help me out.  It can’t be that different than kissing a girl.  Trouble is, knowing which ones would be willing to help.  Chloe might know; she figures out stuff like that about people pretty quickly.”  

 

Giving a start that was quickly suppressed, Lex’s left hand tightened on his thigh.  “What?”

 

Startled from his musing, Clark’s eyes widened at the sharp tone.  “Huh?”  Thinking about what he said, Clark cocked his head.  “Is it different?  I wouldn’t have thought--”

 

“Since when have you been willing to kiss other males?”  Lex’s voice grated out, and his left hand let go of his leg, only to clench into a fist.

 

 Clark shrank in on himself a little.  “Does that bother you?  I didn’t even think...  It’s just that, well, I’ve always been able to tell you stuff, and I--”

 

Clark’s babbling cuts off when Lex made a slicing motion with his right hand.  “Of course it doesn’t bother me.  But, when did it happen?  What about Lana?”

 

“Oh.”  Clark shrugged.  “Well, it was kind of Lana who made me think of it.  Around a year ago, we were having a conversation in a graveyard, don’t ask, and she made a joke about me maybe liking guys.  I told her no, but it was a knee-jerk reaction.  I didn’t actually think about it.  Now, I have, and I don’t mind the thought, it even sounds good, but I haven’t done actually anything with a guy, yet.”

 

Surging to his feet, Lex swung around to stare down at Clark, before offering him a hand.  When Clark took it, Lex yanked him to his feet.  He wound up only inches away from his friend, and Clark’s eyes widened, even as his pulse started to beat hard enough to be visible.  “Let me test my understanding again, Clark.  You want to learn to be a better kisser, but everyone you know well enough is either at school or too old or their sexuality is unknown.  Is that right?”

 

Breathing quickened because of the unexpected closeness to Lex and how that was making him feel, Clark could only stammer his answer out.  “Y-y-yeah.”

 

Reaching out, Lex rubbed his thumb over Clark’s bottom lip.  “You can’t think of anyone to help you?”

 

Breathing hitching at the drag of the pad of Lex’s thumb over the sensitive skin of his lip, Clark just stared at Lex before his brain caught up to the fact that a question had been asked.  “I...I hadn’t....I didn’t...you’ve never...I just--”

 

Clark broke off with a whimper when warm, dry lips ghosted over his own.  His whole body started to tremble minutely, there were Mexican jumping beans in his stomach, and his eyes were so wide open in surprise and shock and...something more that he couldn’t quite identify...that he wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to close them again.

 

“By the time I’m done giving you lessons, Clark, you’ll have every girl you kiss swooning at your feet.  That will shut up the bullies, and make that girl sorry she ever opened her mouth to belittle you.”

 

When Lex stepped even closer, Clark felt his insides tense up in a good, a very good, way.  “I...I have the feeling, Lex, that when you’re done with your lessons, I won’t care what the kids at school are saying about me.  And, I...I won’t want to be kissing any girls.”

 

At Clark’s shaky admission, Lex’s smile turned fierce, and he reached up to thread his fingers through Clark’s hair.  “That’s a good plan, Clark.  I wish I’d thought of it.  Now, let’s start the lessons.”


End file.
